Perimenopause & Menopause
8th Sense’s perimenopause and menopause care uses Functional Medicine to evaluate hormones alongside metabolism, gut health and lifestyle, offering bioidentical hormone therapy when clinically appropriate.
Perimenopause and menopause are natural stages of life, but significant symptoms should not simply be accepted as inevitable.
The menopause conversation has changed. We now understand that fluctuating and declining ovarian hormones can affect much more than periods and hot flushes—including sleep, mood, cognition, metabolism, bone, muscle, cardiovascular health, sexual function, skin and genitourinary health.
What Is Perimenopause?
Perimenopause is the transition leading to menopause and commonly begins in the 40s, although symptoms may start earlier.
During this time, estrogen can fluctuate considerably, while ovulation and progesterone production become less predictable. Symptoms can therefore begin while periods are still present.
Common symptoms include:
Irregular or heavier periods • hot flushes • night sweats • poor sleep • anxiety • irritability • mood changes • brain fog • fatigue • headaches • breast tenderness • bloating • reduced libido • vaginal dryness • joint and muscle discomfort • increasing abdominal fat
Importantly, not every symptom is caused by perimenopause hormones fluctuation. Insulin resistance, thyroid dysfunction, chronic stress, poor sleep, nutritional deficiencies and other health problems can coexist and contribute to symptoms.
This is why perimenopausal symptoms may be particularly difficult when a woman is not in optimal metabolic and overall health, and this is where Functional Medicine Approach makes the difference.
What Is Menopause?
Menopause is reached after 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period and occurs at an average age of approximately 50-55.
Declining estrogen can affect multiple tissues and systems, with implications for bone, muscle, metabolism, cardiovascular, brain, skin, sexual and genitourinary health.
Menopause care should therefore look beyond hot flushes and consider a woman's long-term health and healthy aging.
Reframing Menopause
Why Has the Menopause Conversation Changed?
Following the early interpretation of the Women's Health Initiative, many women became concerned about hormone therapy, and many doctors avoided prescribing HRT.
Today, the evidence is understood with considerably more nuance. Age, timing of treatment, type and route of hormones, medical history and individual risk all matter.
Hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment for menopausal hot flushes and night sweats and helps prevent menopause-associated bone loss. Multiple researches are investigating benefit of HRT in preventing cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline in aging women.
The question is no longer simply whether hormones are “good or bad”, but which treatment is appropriate for which woman, at what time, and in what form.
FAQ
Changes in periods together with hot flushes, sleep problems, mood changes, brain fog or other typical symptoms may indicate perimenopause. Symptoms can begin even while periods remain regular.
Yes. Hormonal fluctuations can contribute to mood, sleep and cognitive symptoms. Other causes should also be considered rather than attributing every symptom to hormones.
Hormonal changes interact with your overall health. Insulin resistance, chronic stress, poor sleep, nutritional deficiencies and other conditions can add to the symptom burden. This is why treating the whole woman matters.
Bioidentical hormones have the same molecular structure as hormones naturally produced by the human body. Examples include 17β-estradiol and micronised progesterone.
Functional Medicine evaluates hormones together with metabolism, nutrition, gut health, thyroid function, sleep, stress and lifestyle. Hormone therapy is used when clinically appropriate and personalised to the individual woman.
Dr Sly Nedic, MD, IFMCP combines Functional Medicine approach with bioidentical hormone therapy at 8th Sense, focusing on the health of the whole woman and healthy aging.
*Disclaimer: Treatment results will vary on a patient to patient basis. No guarantees can be made.
